Yevamos 62a

יבמות ס״ב ע״א

Yevamot 62a

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Topic

How the מצוה of פריה ורביה is fulfilled: משה's example, רבי נתן's reports of בית שמאי and בית הלל, a convert's earlier children, and children who died.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a back-and-forth about the מצוה of פריה ורביה. Why don't בית הלל learn from משה, who separated from his wife after two sons? The answer is that משה acted on his own reasoning. A ברייתא lists three things משה decided on his own, and ה׳ agreed with each one: separating from his wife, breaking the לוחות, and adding a day before מתן תורה. The גמרא then brings two ברייתות in which רבי נתן reports the argument between בית שמאי and בית הלל differently, along with the פסוקים behind each version. Next, רבי יוחנן and ריש לקיש argue whether a convert's children from before he converted count. They are consistent with how they rule about a בכור for inheritance. This leads to a discussion of whether gentiles and slaves have family lineage. Finally, רב הונא and רבי יוחנן argue whether a man whose children died has fulfilled the מצוה. The amud ends as the גמרא begins a challenge to רב הונא from a ברייתא, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (38)

1. ResolutionEnd of the rejection: we can't learn from what was impossible
2. ChallengeWhy don't בית הלל learn from משה?
3. Resolutionמשה acted on his own reasoning
4. ProofThe ברייתא: three things משה did on his own
5. QuestionWhat reasoning led משה to separate from his wife?
6. Responseמשה's קל וחומר from the people at Sinai
7. Proofה׳ agreed: 'You, stand here with Me'
8. QuestionWhat reasoning led משה to break the לוחות?
9. Responseמשה's קל וחומר from the קרבן פסח
10. Proofה׳ agreed: 'Well done for breaking them'
11. QuestionWhy did משה add a day?
12. ResponseToday is like tomorrow, so the night counts
13. Proofה׳ agreed: the שכינה came on שבת
14. Statementרבי נתן's first report: four children or two
15. Questionרב הונא asks for בית שמאי's source
16. Responseאדם and חוה had four children
17. QuestionHow do the רבנן read the פסוק?
18. Responseחוה was just thanking ה׳
19. Statementרבי נתן's second report: two children or one
20. Questionרבא asks for בית הלל's source
21. ResponseThe world was made to be lived in
22. StatementDid a convert with children from before fulfill the מצוה?
23. StatementThe reasons behind each opinion
24. StatementThe same dispute about a firstborn's inheritance
25. ResponseWhy the inheritance dispute had to be stated too
26. ConclusionWhy the first dispute was needed, and both are necessary
27. Challengeרבי יוחנן challenges ריש לקיש from a verse about a gentile king
28. Resolutionריש לקיש answers that conversion cuts off lineage
29. Statementרב: everyone agrees a slave has no lineage
30. ChallengeChallenge from ציבא, a slave who had sons
31. Resolution'Son' can just mean offspring, like 'a bull, son of cattle'
32. ChallengeThen the gentile king's verse should be read the same way
33. ResolutionThe king's verse names both him and his father
34. ResolutionAnother answer: elsewhere gentiles are traced back two generations
35. StatementNew dispute: a man whose children died
36. Statementרב הונא's reason: bringing souls into the world
37. Statementרבי יוחנן's reason: the world must be inhabited
38. ChallengeSetting up a challenge from a ברייתא